Beware of Flash and other video player updates. Not all updates are created equal. In fact, some are not updates at all. This week we have seen several infected machines that originated from "Fake" Flash player updates that appear on random websites that the user visits, such as facebook.com
It seems like 3 out of every 5 computer repair visits are virus infections. Back in February Facebook became target to the "Magnet Scam" which displayed a video and upon clicking would start the video then prompt for a Flash Player update. The update would not be an update to flash but a Trojan downloader that would install other malware. Facebook quickly began blocking the links that participated in the scheme. This type of threat is still live and well on the Internet on other sites.
Just because you see a prompt to update does not necessarily mean you should click on it. If you believe your computer requires a certain updates, such as Flash, you should head over to the software developers homepage. In this case, http://www.adobe.com, click the menu button at the top and choose "Adobe Flash Player" on the popup screen. A direct link to get flash, https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer , I would recommend unselecting the "Optional Offers".
Viruses can find you in many ways but this week video update scams seems to be at the top of our threat list. If you would like to check if you have the latest update from Adobe Flash, check the link down below.
As always, make sure to backup your complete system at least weekly with daily incremental backups. Software such as Comodo Backup, which is free, makes this an easy task.
Check your Flash version, http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about
